Edith Wharton

Edith Wharton (1862–1937) was an American novelist born into New York’s high society. Educated privately while traveling Europe, her elite upbringing deeply informed her fiction. In 1885, she married Edward Wharton and built "The Mount" estate in Massachusetts, producing acclaimed works like The House of Mirth (1905) and Ethan Frome (1911). Following her 1913 divorce, Wharton settled in France, earning the Legion of Honour for extensive World War I relief efforts. For The Age of Innocence (1920), she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, remaining in France until her death.